Life or Something Like It
by Awahili
Summary: Just a normal day at CSC. Dan obsesses about being cute, Jeremy's afraid of bunny's, and big blue things for two dollars off.


﻿ 

Alright, this is my first Sports Night fanfic, but I love em so here we go!

"Dan, Casey, if it's at all possible to squeeze into your busy schedule, could you possibly come do my show?" The Executive Producer's voice rang through the bullpen as the aforementioned anchormen donned their jackets.

"She said you were cute?" Casey began as Dan smiled at him.

"She did indeed, my friend. I'm cute as a button, according to certain members of the female persuasion." They began to make their way to the studio, knowing if they didn't, Dana Whitaker would send in a pack of wild horses to drag them out.

"Putting aside the small fact that no one is of gender 'persuasion,' she said you were cute as a button?"

"Yeah."

"A button, Dan." They took their places behind the anchor desk as the makeup and wardrobe crew looked them over one last time.

"I, Dan Rydell, am cute as a button." Casey fastened his earpiece in and looked at the camera.

"Hey Dana, are buttons cute?" he asked in all seriousness. From the control room, the blonde woman leaned in to her microphone and pressed her call button.

"Mine are actually quite cute, but what does that have to do with the two of you _doing my show?_"

"One of the parking girls said Dan was as cute as a button," Casey explained.

"Sixty seconds," Chris called out. Natalie Hurley, Senior Associate Producer, activated her microphone.

"Bunny's are very cute," she put in, earning her an amused glance from Dana. Jeremy, a rather nerdy-looking associate producer, looked around Dana at his newly attained girlfriend.

"They most definitely are _not_ cute. Rabbits are the spawn of Satan and should be wiped off the face of the planet." Everyone in the control room turned to look at him, and Dana smiled.

"Bunnies are the spawn of Satan?"

"Yes."

"Thirty seconds." Everyone turned back to their work station.

"Hey Dana!" came Casey's voice over the comm system, "Were you persuaded to be female?"

"We really don't have time for this discussion, Casey, why don't the two of you _do my show_!"

"Geez, ask a girl a simple question, and she bites your head off."

"Such is the way of all things, my friend," Dan said, making final readjustments. The crewmen scrambled out of shot and behind the scenes as Dan and Casey sat up a little straighter in their chairs. The countdown came and they smiled as the red light lit atop camera 2.

"Good evening, I'm Dan Rydell, alongside Casey McCall. Those stories plus we'll take you out to Veteran Stadium where Eagles fans went to a fight, and a football game broke out. Then out to Fenway Park where Kelly Kirkpatrick is standing by to fill us in on the record breaking base stealer, Joe Hulen. You're watching Sports Night on CSC, so stick around."

"We're out!"

"2 minutes back!"

Natalie twirled her Tootsie Pop around in her mouth and hummed to herself as she delivered mail. Smiling, she handed Jeremy a card and winked at him, continuing on her route. As she rounded the desk to hand Kim some footage, Jeremy jumped up out of his chair.

Natalie broke down into giggles as Jeremy glared at her. "That was not funny, Natalie." He looked down at the pop-out bunny that was grinning at him from the card. Kim and Elliot joined her in laughing, though they were a bit more discreet about it.

"It sure is, and I'll tell you why. Because you, my 'cute-as-a-button man', are afraid of little bunny rabbits." Jeremy began to say something in return, but thought better of it. Ever since the Christian Patrick incident, Natalie had been a little high-strung. Now, a month later, things were beginning to wind down and Natalie was returning to normal. If Natalie ribbing him about his fear of rabbits aided that, then he was willing to endure. In truth, the only thing he was truly afraid of was Natalie dropping him like a bad habit once she didn't need him for comfort anymore.

Natalie smiled to herself at Jeremy's defeated face and continued her rounds. She stopped by Dan and Casey's office, only to hand Dan a tape and walk out.

"Hey Casey, you know what I found out?" Dan asked from his position behind the computer.

"What's that?" his friend replied, somewhat distracted by the college football stats.

"If you move your hands over one letter from home position on the keyboard, you spell 'gpt' instead of 'for.'" Casey looked up in amazement at his partner, trying to think of a response. After a few minutes of silence, he snorted.

"I've got nothing for that, man. Totally blanked." Dan smiled.

"My work is complete." He stood and grabbed his wallet. "Going for lunch, you want something?" Casey returned to his stats, jotting down a few notes before answering.

"Sure, the usual, wherever you're going." Dan thought for a moment before it dawned on him.

"You know what, you're right. You get the same thing, no matter where you go. Burger King, it's a Double Whopper meal, Dino's is the #19 with extra olives, Mac's Grill the American Monster with extra cheese. The list is endless."

"I'm pretty sure it only extends to those places that sell food, Dan."

"The point is, you have no variety in your life. Eat something different for once."

"Dan, if I ate something different, I couldn't tell you to get me 'the usual,' because it wouldn't _be_ 'the usual.' So get me 'the usual' wherever you go."

"Tony's sound okay?"

"Sure."

"Three slices of pepperoni and mushrooms coming right up." The door shut and Casey shook his head.

"Isaac, how are you this fine morning." Dana stepped in stride with her boss, both heading for the noon rundown.

"I have a headache the size of Texas, my wife sliced her hand peeling oranges this morning, and the network is wondering why the Patrick/Hurley incident has died down."

"The Patrick/Hurley incident? Please tell me that's not what they're calling it."

"That's what they're calling it. They said it boosted ratings for us, and we could have been contenders for second place if we'd only run it more."

"What did you tell them?" Dana asked quietly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention.

"I told them in no uncertain terms to hell with the ratings. I care more about my people than anything, especially numbers fed to me by higher ups who wouldn't know a teaser from a trailer." Dana smiled as they entered the conference room, taking their respective places.

"Alright, where do we stand on the Gillespie fiasco?"

Dan took a bite of pizza and swallowed. "Casey has it in the tease, and I'm following up in the sixties. Apparently, he not only beaned four consecutive batters, but when he was pulled from the game, he decked the pitching coach on his way to the locker room."

"Any idea why?"

"Not clue one, though rumor has it his wife was cheating on him with the other team."

"With the other team?" Dana asked incredulously.

"Indeed."

"The whole team?" Natalie jumped in, eyes wide.

"Well, that and his pitching coach," Casey put in.

"Okay," Dana said, glaring at Casey, "do _not_ put any of that into the show. I will string you upside down in my office and dangle steak under you."

"Actually, in that case, you would be dangling Casey over the steak."

"Thank you Dan."

"Not a problem," he sat back in his chair.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Isaac said. "Let's talk about matters relating to the show?"

Dana continued, "I've got promos for twelve and thirteen as well as highlight reels for fourteen, followed by two features, one each boys, on downhill skeeting and ski shooting."

"You mean downhill skiing and skeet shooting," Jeremy corrected.

"Actually I like Dana's better," Dan said, earning him a chuckle around the room.

"Can we focus? We've got college ball in the top half, as well as the two features. We'll cover the NHL and NFL stats up front with follow-ups at fifty-two and fifty-three. We'll wrap up the top half-hour with baseball, and no mention of the rumor. Just give the highlights from each game, and when you get to Gillespie, tell them the basics. No rumors. You got that?"

"Yes, Mom," Casey and Dan intoned.

"I mean it. The two of you are old enough to know better."

"And still too young to care," Dan replied, high-fiving Casey. "No rumors, got it," he added at her look.

"Alright, that's it," Dana gathered her things and stood. Natalie jumped out of her seat.

"Back here at six!" She threw her things down on her desk and grabbed Jeremy's arm as he walked past. "Lunch?" He nodded and placed his folder down next to the keyboard. Natalie smiled as she took his hand and led him to the elevator.

"Where to, bunny-boy? My treat." He rolled his eyes as the doors opened to the parking garage.

"Your treat?"

"Least I could do," she kissed him on the cheek as he opened her door. He climbed in the passenger side and smiled to himself as she drove out into New York City.

"That's it for us, folks. We'll be back here tomorrow night, so be sure to tune in. You never know what could happen. Goodnight."

"We're out."

"Roll VTR."

"Sound."

"Go."

"Graphics."

"Go."

"Good show everyone!" Dana called as she hopped up out of her seat. Casey and Dan entered the control room and joined Dana out to her office.

"Dana, Casey says I'm not cute. What do you think?"

"Are we still having this conversation? Didn't it end, like, yesterday?" Casey shrugged off his jacket.

"No, we just postponed it so we could torture you more." She smiled.

"Thanks guys, but nothing you could say could spoil my mood right now."

"Oh, I'm sure I could think of some things," Casey laughed, "But if anyone were to overhear them, I would be on the front page of the National Enquirer tomorrow morning."

"Then please don't," Dana said smugly, grabbing her coat and purse. "I'm going to go have dinner with Gordon then back to his place, or mine. Use your imagination from there boys." She patted Dan on the shoulder and walked out, leaving both men with horrible mental images.

"We really have to stop bugging her after the show," Dan exclaimed, rubbing his head. Casey smirked and walked out, followed closely by his best friend.

"What are you doing tonight?" Dan asked as they entered their office.

"Uh, probably stop by an all-night burger joint on the way home, catch the updates from FOX, then go to sleep," Casey replied.

"You need to live more. Come on, we'll go to 'El Perro Fumundo.'" Casey sighed, knowing he was going to lose this battle.

"Alright, grab some people." Dan clapped his hands together in triumph and walked out into the bullpen.

"Alright people, party at 'El Perro Fumundo.' Buy your own alcohol, but enjoy the company!" Several cheers erupted around the room, and several people joined Dan by the door.

Jeremy leaned over his desk and tapped Natalie on the shoulder. "You wanna go with them?" he asked. She smiled and nodded, holding up a finger.

"Kim, you know what this means?" she asked.

"Big blue things for two dollars off?" Kim placed a blue ball cap backwards on her head.

"Big blue things for two dollars off!" Natalie exclaimed, pulling on her blue Sports Night jacket. She turned to find Jeremy standing in front of her, wearing a loudly blue tie with white bunnies on it. She erupted into laughter, soon joined by several others. He wrapped an arm around her waist and they followed the crowd. Just before they reached the stairwell, Jeremy stopped, letting the crowd pass them, until they were completely alone.

"What's up?" Natalie asked, thoroughly confused.

"I'm going to do something now, and I don't want you to freak out." She smiled, recalling her lines to him a month before.

"Are you going to throw water at me?" she teased.

"No," he leaned in and kissed her, long and tenderly. Cupping her face with his hands, he pulled away, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I love you, Natalie." Instantly, tears sprang up in her eyes and spilled over, but he carefully wiped them away with his thumbs. She leaned into him, pressing her face into his chest.

"I love you too, Jeremy." A breath he'd been holding for a month was released, and he felt a sudden tidal wave of relief wash over him. He tightened his hold around her once before letting her go. She stepped back and looked at the stairwell.

"You wanna skip The Flaming Dog?" she asked coyly. He raised his eyebrows.

"It's 'The Smoking Dog,' actually, and who really cares?" he added at her very seductive look. She grabbed his hand as they raced out the door.

There it is folks. I tried to stay true to character, and actually, I think I did pretty well. Review and let me know what you think!


End file.
